Digital rear-view mirrors on trucks improve traffic safety

Rear-view mirrors on trucks have one main purpose – to improve drivers’ visibility. With conventional rear-view mirrors, truck drivers struggle with limited fields of view and large blind spots around their trucks. A recently completed research project, DREAMS, conducted by Stoneridge Electronics AB, Scania, and RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden, shows that digital rear-view mirror systems on trucks can reduce blind spots and add views that are difficult to obtain with conventional mirrors.

Benefits of digital rear-view mirrors:

• Extended field of view in intersections and roundabouts increases traffic safety.
• Enhanced night visibility creates a safer work environment for truck drivers.
• Enable new functions that improve truck drivers’ situation awareness.

To generate knowledge on safety and usability aspects of digital rear-view mirror systems, extensive evaluations have been made. The tests were conducted with Stoneridge’s prototype of a digital rear-view mirror system mounted on a Scania truck. The prototype includes cameras mounted close to the front corners of the truck cabin and in-vehicle monitors mounted in A-pillars showing livestream videos of the surroundings to truck drivers, corresponding to the conventional truck mirrors of Class II and IV.

- Based on our extensive experience in evaluation methods, we have developed a new approach for evaluating safety and usability aspects. This includes three steps: controlled experiments at the test track AstaZero, followed by naturalistic experiments on public roads and in real-life applications. Evaluations with over 70 truck drivers suggest that a high-level of safety and usability can be achieved when using the system, says Azra Habibovic, project leader and senior researcher at RISE Viktoria.

A majority of the drivers found the system appealing and easy to get used to. It gives a larger field of view, especially in intersections and roundabouts, and reduces the need for body and head movements to increase the field of view. Another advantage is that the system provides better visibility when door windows are dirty, and therefore more difficult to see through with conventional rear-view mirrors. By replacing conventional rear-view mirrors with significantly smaller camera arms, we get also reduced air drag.

Safety is paramount at Scania. The company works continuously to help improve driver safety and accident prevention with systems and features to give drivers better feedback, vision and control.

- Replacing conventional mirrors with digital systems gives a unique opportunity to improve drivers’ field of view and to improve their vision at night, says Hanna Staf, vehicle ergonomist at Scania. This improves safety at the same time as it creates a more comfortable work environment for truck drivers.

One of the major challenges is to make the system robust and reliable over its entire lifespan. In this research project, Stoneridge were able to improve the technical maturity of the prototype. Now, Stoneridge will further refine their system prior to the market launch that is planned for 2018.

- We have also explored how to extend its functionality, highlights Nicolas Sundberg, development manager at Stoneridge Electronics. Today, the system shows only the livestream video of the surroundings, but in the future, it could help drivers detect cyclists in blind spots, indicate when it is safe to change lanes, or show them the distance between the truck and other objects when reversing.

The research project was co-funded by the Strategic Vehicle Research and Innovation Program (FFI). The prototype will be shown at the FFI’s results conference on November 23, 2017 in Stockholm.

About Stoneridge

Stoneridge Electronics has Design Centres in Stockholm/Sweden, Barneveld/Netherlands, Tallinn/Estonia, Juarez/Mexico, Pune/India and Shanghai/China. All sites have extensive and long experience in areas such as; hardware, software, mechanics, project management, test and validation. Our product offerings consist of driver information, vision systems, advanced modules, telematics, tachograph systems and power and switch modules. Our designers and engineers work closely with our customers to design, develop and manufacture components, modules and systems, and we have long-standing relationships with the major vehicle manufacturers in the world. www.stoneridge.com

About Scania

Scania is a world leading provider of transport solutions. Together with our partners and customers we are driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system. In 2016, we delivered 73,100 trucks, 8,300 buses as well as 7,800 industrial and marine engines to our customers. Net sales totalled nearly SEK 104 billion, of which about 20 percent were services-related. Founded in 1891, Scania now operates in more than 100 countries and employs some 46,000 people. Research and development are concentrated in Sweden, with branches in Brazil and India. Production takes place in Europe, Latin America and Asia, with regional production centres in Africa, Asia and Eurasia. Scania is part of Volkswagen Truck & Bus GmbH. For more information visit www.scania.com.

About RISE

The RISE institutes Innventia, SP, and Swedish ICT have merged in order to become a stronger research and innovation partner. Through our international collaboration programmes with academia, industry, and the public sector, we ensure the competitiveness of the Swedish business community on an international level and contribute to a sustainable society. Our 2,200 employees support and promote all manner of innovative processes, and our roughly 100 testbeds and demonstration facilities are instrumental in developing the future-proofing of products, technologies, and services. RISE Research Institutes of Sweden is fully owned by the Swedish state. www.ri.se

For more information please Contact:

Joakim Jakobsson, Head of media relations RISE, +46 72 452 66 32

Karin Hallstan, Public relations manager Scania, +46 76 841 81 04

Kent Pålsson, Head of vision & safety, Stoneridge, +46 70 620 48 61